Ancient Magic
by Timetheif1
Summary: Taking elements from the show Once upon a time. Reason it's not in the crossover section is inside. Not imperitive to watch first, but you'd get it better. A dagger has been found, by one of the gundalian agents (not Ren). The unknowingly activate the power inside, and become the first dark one in 100 years. At first you can't tell, then people begin mysteriously dying.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, I know I probably shouldn't start another story, but I am anyway:) And while the plot is OUAT based, It doesn't have any of it's characters so I'm keeping here. Anyway, if you read the AN at the end, it'll have update information. Now for the disclaimer. Who to have do it...I'd make Lena but she'll have enough screentime.**

 **Lena: Your making me an insane murderer!**

 **Me: sorta, since your making them miserable lets add to it! Pick a person**

 **Lena: Which brawler cost me my freedom.**

 **Me: Shun and Dan eventually do**

 **Lena: works for me**

 **Me: Shun! Dan!**

 **Boys: She doesn't own bakugan, or OUAT really, just the plot.**

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Ancient Magic

Chapter one

Lena p.o.v

"Would you two shut up already?" Ren yelled at Sid and Jesse, who were bickering. "You're behaving like children!" I nodded in agreement, and stood up. "Where are you going?" asked Ren.

"For a walk," I told him.

"Around interspace?" Sid questioned. I shook my head.

"No, I'm just going to take an access point to Earth," I shrugged. Ren nodded, and allowed me to go. I chose an access point that lead into a spot far from the brawlers, and had good scenery. It was a huge forest that surrounded a small long abandon town, where the access point lay beyond. I didn't really mean to go into the town, but that's where I ended up. As I continued walking, it began to rain. "Come on," I mumbled. I couldn't teleport without bringing the rain with me, so I walked into the nearest building. As I closed the door and turned around, I tripped over an object. Without looking at what it was, I grabbed it and transported to gundalia, since Kazarina would want a report. I transported into the lab, knowing I was already late. Kazarina was busy so I stood at the side and waited.

"You're late," she greeted me after she stopped.

"I was on a walk, but it had started to rain," I explained briefly. She gave a dismissive wave, before turning to me.

"What do you have to report?" she asked.

"The infiltration is going well," I said shortly. She nodded.

"What's that?" she asked pointing to the object I had just grabbed. I stared at it. It seemed like a dagger, but it was curved several times over, and had a unique design that ran over the blade.

"I found it in the shop I walked into to transport here," I told her. Well…technically I tripped into the store but she didn't need to know that. I handed her the dagger, and watched her put it in a case. She started up some machines to run tests.

"Keep an eye on that. I need to take a quick report to Barodius," she ordered. I nodded. As soon as she left, I turned my attention to the dagger. It was doing fine. Then I noticed that it was sparking slightly. Against my better judgement, I slowly walked toward it. I felt like all I wanted to do was touch it. Slowly, I reached out, and grasped the handle. Power seemed to surge through me. I finally get what darak meant when he said he could feel the power. I grabbed it and brought it out of the container.

"I am waking," something hissed. Before I knew what to do, the dagger seemed to start emmiting pure darkness. A lot of it. I dropped it in surprise. The darkness began to destroy many things around the lab, just as Kazarina walked in. When she saw it she gasped. The darkness began to gather at the ceiling, still causing destruction. I slowly backed away

"It's making a decision," I whispered softly. Kazarina looked at me for a minute.

"You can explain later! We need to go!" she yelled. I shook my head.

Kazarina p.o.v

"Lena let's go!" I yelled at her. Sure she was expendable but I didn't totally not care about her. I certainly didn't want her killed for nothing. "Lena!" I yelled. Her earlier comment had freaked me out. Whatever decision it was making It seemed to have made up its mind. I flew toward Lena, and picked her up off the ground, swarming around her. She screamed as loud as she possibly could.

"Help!" she yelled. Suddenly, the darkness seemed to absorb into her, and she dropped to the ground.

Lena p.o.v

"Lena!" someone yelled. Someone was shaking me. I coughed. "Oh thank goodness, your alive." It was Kazarina.

"What the hell happened?" I mumbled as I opened my eyes.

"You just absorbed pure darkness," she told me.

"Yea, I'm not that out of it," I mumbled. We both stood.

"Get that thing out of here," she said, pointing to the dagger. "I'll get someone to clean this up. As far as everyone will know, this is an experiment gone wrong."

"But…this is an experiment gone wrong," I pointed out, feeling cheeky.

"Test," Kazarina amended. "And to be clear, only Barodius will know the truth, or part of it anyway."

"Part?" I asked, taking careful steps to avoid getting cut.

"I'm only going to say that the report was a cover up, that you were affected, and I'd give more details when I saw how it affected you," she elaborated. "Now get that damn thing out of here." I rolled my eyes and carefully picked up the dagger, then nearly dropped it when I screamed. Kazarina turned to me.

"I'm not sure we should get rid of this yet," I said in a shaky manner. She shot me confused look. I showed her dagger. It had a small change in design. Right in the middle, something was engraved.

Lena.

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 **Updates and upcomings**

 **The warm hearted farrow: Hoping to get it started today. Should have it up sometime between today and Tuesday**

 **Hunger Games: Those chapters take forever, but I'll hopefully have it by Friday, if not-monday to tuesday**

 **Autistic Genius: Just updated that one. Hopefully I'll have another in two-three weeks**

 **Quotev**

 **The evil one: Hopefully Wednesday-Thursday**

 **150 things I'm not allowed to do with the bots OR cons-Friday-Saturday**

 **Upcoming**

 **Harry potter life quiz on quotev- hoping to take the upcoming weekend to finish it. If I get Hungergames done that should work out. If I don't then not so much.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

 _Previously on Ancient magic_

 _"I'm only going to say that the report was a cover up, that you were affected, and I'd give more details when I saw how it affected you," she elaborated. "Now get that damn thing out of here." I rolled my eyes and carefully picked up the dagger, then nearly dropped it when I screamed. Kazarina turned to me._

 _"I'm not sure we should get rid of this yet," I said in a shaky manner. She shot me confused look. I showed her dagger. It had a small change in design. Right in the middle, something was engraved._

 _Lena._

Lena p.o.v

I groaned as I collapsed on my bed in the palace. After we noticed the daggers new development, Kazarina insisted on locking it up, that I rest, and that we'd look into it tomorrow. That sounded okay to me, except for the dagger part. For some reason, I'd rather keep an eye on it, but I really don't have a say in the matter, since she was my superior. I groaned as I thought about it? Was I really stuck being a servant to a bunch of sadists for the rest of my life? When my thoughts caught up with me I paused. Did I really just think that? I'd never questioned these things before, they were the thoughts of a traitor. I must just need some sleep. I switched from my back to my side, but I couldn't fall asleep. I groaned in frustration. I didn't even feel tired, despite not having slept in at least 48 hours.

"Can't sleep?" A feminine voice asks. I tensed, as the voice was directly behind me, and I could practically sense the evil in the tone. Slowly, I turned to face the woman, and studied her. She was obviously human. Her skin tone was pale, but her bleach blonde hair which had been braided into a bun, made her seem even paler. She was skinny too, and had prominient cheek bones. It certainly fit the human version of attractive. But that wasn't what was so irking about her. What set me on edge was the leather pants, leather boots, and leather jacket, all black in color, that adorned her, along with blood red lipstick. It screamed evil to the core. "Hello. Lena is it? It feels good to have another woman take on the dark power, after so many men came to inherit it. Even if you are younger than most, possibly all of its predecessors," she talked on.

"Who are you?" I asked shakily. "What do you want? How did you get here?"

"Easy Lena. I wouldn't shout too loud, unless you want someone to hear you. Talking to yourself shortly after having been in a scientific accident. That dear girl, will garuntee you a spot on the wrong end of the table," she smirked.

"But I'm talking to you. And you didn't answer my previous question," I pointed out, sitting up.

"Which one? You asked multiple." The woman continued to smirk. It was infuriating. She seemed to notice that I was starting to get angry because she began to go into a little detail. "First thing you should know kid, I'm in your head," she poked the side of my temple for emphasis, making me jerk away. "I think that answers how I got in here. Ad I'm here so I can teach you how to keep a handle on your power, and use it to fight. I am your guide, per say," again, that smirk.

"But who are you? I asked.

"I am Emma Swan. And I am here to help you on your way with the dark one," she said. That just created more questions than it answered.

"The dark what?" I asked.

"The dark one dear. It's an ancient power that ties itself to living beings, usually human in origin. It allows you to be very powerful, and master dark magic better than anyone, as well as making you immortal, hence why you can't sleep. It's tied to that dagger and whoever has it can control you, so I really stress keeping it in your sight," she explained. I rolled my eyes. Then I realized, my glasses were on the bedside table, yet, I could see perfectly.

"You see, this isn't in your head child. Or…well you get what I mean. You have power, unlimited power. You found that dagger, and when you picked it up, you woke it from its sleep, and when you and your...aquantince tested it, you activated it. The darkness chose you," she stressed.

"Stop calling me a child!" I yelled at her, feeling a little overwhelmed. There was obvious truth to what she was saying, but it was scientifically impossible. Right?

"Back when I first became a dark one, I had a son, a mere two years younger than you are now. To me, you are a child," she whispered softly. I stared at her. After a minute she spoke once more. "It is time for you to go," she told me.

"Where?" I asked.

"To the vault of the dark ones of course." Once she said, it began to get harder to breathe. The room began spinning, and faded to black, but I was still conscious, and struggling. When it ended, I looked around. I was in a lush forest, that was greener than anything I'd seen before. I turned uncertainly, and noticed a path, as well as a stone bank. I realized I wasn't standing on grass. I looked down and noticed several things. First, I was standing on a rusted, circular heavy metal, with more symbols than I cared to think of. Second, I was in my human form, and third, I wasn't wearing my normal attire. Instead, I was dressed in a black dress, that seemed to be tight at my waist, and then flow down to my knees. I couldn't tell about design since a shawl covered it completely, and I had knee high converse for shoes. I noticed that my hair was down, and when I touched the back, I realized it was in a half up-half down braided style.

"What the hell?" I yelled angrily. Emma Swan appeared with that smirk of hers.

"Welcome to the enchanted forest dear. You would've been brought here first thing, however the darkness needed to affiliate itself with your species before you could really do anything. Now, are you ready to begin?"

"Begin what?" I asked angrily, stepping off the platform. To my surprise she laughed.

"Begin the mission of all dark ones. I completed it once, but unfortuneately my work was undone," she told me.

"And what is this mission?" I asked. She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"The mission of the dark ones has always been the same. To reunite excaliber to the dagger, and rid yourself of that tether. But first, you must except the darkness," she smiled. I looked at her.

"And just how do I do that, preferably before someone notices,"

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 **Awesome! Anyway, I suck at outfit descriptions so if you want to know what Lenas wearing go here: ancient_magic-the_new_dark_one/set?id=209607847**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

 _Previously on Ancient magic_

 _"The mission of the dark ones has always been the same. To reunite excaliber to the dagger, and rid yourself of that tether. But first, you must except the darkness," she smiled. I looked at her._

 _"And just how do I do that, preferably before someone notices,"_

Chapter three

What am I?

Emma smiled at me. "You need to connect yourself to your new powers. Concentrate, then let go into a meditative state," she instructed. I nodded and began to follow her instructions. Just as I began to grow impatient, I felt something snap, followed by a powerful surge within me. I opened my eyes, feeling more awake than ever. "Good. You're doing very well Lena," she praised. I gave her a nod before I felt a pressure in my head. Kazarina was summoning me.

"I need to go," I informed her, before remembering that technically she was in my head.

"Concentrate. Picture where you want to go," she ordered. I pictured Kazarina's lab, and there I was, right behind her.

"You summoned me?" I called to get her attention. He jumped and turned around.

"I was wondering…what are you wearing?" I looked down and realized I was wearing what I had been in the enchanted forest. Well fudge.

"Um…I didn't even notice," I partially lied. She eventually nodded, accepting my answer.

"Any other…changes?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I slept terribly, but other than that I'm fine," I told her. I didn't want to tell her a single thing, but I just showed up without a sound, in my human form, wearing clothing, that I supposedly didn't even notice. I had to give her something. She studied me for a second, making me uncomfortable. I felt like I was an experiment, even if it wasn't intended to happen.

"Is there anything else? Something that seems different, anything?" she asked. I was about to deny it once more, but the tone of her voice stopped me. It was almost kind. I paused for a second before blinking to clear my thoughts, and remind myself that this woman had no problem with strapping me to a table.

"Nothing," I said. She stared for a long time. I realized my mistake. I'd paused.

"You may leave to help aid your team, but I want you back soon Lena. Especially if something happens," she ordered. I nodded, and walked out.

"How do I change what I'm wearing?" I asked Emma, one I was out of ear shot.

"Visualize and wave your hands. It comes naturally," she briefly explained. I nodded and did so, and soon, I was wearing my normal human outfit. "Uh-oh," Emma mumbled. I looked at her, and she pointed to a soldier who'd clearly seen. "He can't be allowed to tell anyone, especially Kazarina," she warned. I nodded. I walked up to him, and plunged my hand into his chest, bringing out his heart. It was still glowing, but amongst the red, was much black. The soldier staggered back, still very much alive. Slowly, I began to squeeze. I kept squeezing harder and harder, until all that was left, were grains of sand. It was when he dropped to the ground, did I realize what I'd done. I'd killed him.

"What did I do?" I whispered, directing the question at Emma. "What the hell did I do?" I yelled at her. She smirked infuriatingly. I really wanted to scream. I had just killed someone. How was this funny?

"Lena?" Oh great Kazarina, just what I needed. She walked out and over to me as fast as possible. All too quickly, she noticed the body. "Who is that?" she asked pointing to them. Without thinking, I ran as fast I could.

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 **Sorry it's short.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

Lena

I ran until I was out of sight, then I teleported myself to the old town on Earth. I'd just killed someone by crushing their heart, which I'd ripped out of their chest.

"You knew," I accused Emma.

"Welcome to the fate of a dark one child. You take, you dabble with dark magic. You kill. The only to stop is to be stopped darling," she said seriously. "The only way to rid of it now, is for someone to kill you with your dagger, and take the powers for themselves, which is why I urge you to grab your dagger. It controls you, and is the only way to kill you."

"How do I hide it, and not kill?" I asked. She looked puzzled.

"No one has ever tried to hide this as much as your thinking. And your superior may not have seen you do your magic, but she did see you in a different outfit, and the dead body wasn't hard to notice." I sighed and thought about this.

"Can I erase that part of her memory?" I finally asked, since that was the only solution I could come up with.

"Killing her would be easier," Emma pointed out.

"She's apart of the leading group of Gundalia, and I'm her main assistant, plus she told Barodius that I was affected by the expiriment. If she mysteriously died, I'd be the first suspect. And I'm not a killer," I added.

"I'll forget that you just killed a soldier. Erasing someone's memory is heavily involved. If it was easy, the guy before me would've done it several times."

"What do you do?" I asked her frustrated. She sighed.

"Go to the residential district of this town. Out of all the houses, a blue one will still look brand new," she explained. I nodded, and began to walk. I reached it eventually. The town was actually pretty big. The house was easy to spot, and I ran up to it.

"In the shed, are several dream catchers, enchanted to pull memory's. I'd pull anything from your meeting onward." I nodded, and raced to the shed. I selected a blue one. "take that vial," she pointed to one on the desk. I nodded and grabbed it before exiting.

"Lena," A voice said from behind me. I froze, and slowly turned around. Kazarina was right behind me in her human form.

"Throw the contents of the vial at her," Emma urged.

"What?" I asked, looking at Emma.

"Who are you talking to?" Kazarina asked me.

"The content latches onto magic and makes the person immobile. In this case it will latch to her hypnosis ability." I listened and quickly threw it at Kazarina, who stopped in her tracks. She attempted to move but was stuck.

"What is this?" she asked. I read the vial.

"Squid ink. Makes the magical immobile."

"And where did you get that?" she asked angrily.

"The same place I got this," I answered holding up the dream catcher.

"The incantation is haec memoria evellere," Emma whispered. I nodded and held it up.

Kazarina

What's happening? It's dark. I can't feel anything. The darkness felt suffocating. I ried to move but couldn't. All of a sudden, the void was replaced by a tunnel. I attempted to struggle away but I couldn't. A small flake of white came from my head and slowly grew, first displaying all the memories of today, then turning into a sleeping clone of myself. I knew what had taken place today, but I couldn't remember the actual events. They were trapped with the clone. I could only barely remember because she was still in my head.

"Wake up!" I yelled. It seemed to work. Her eyes were open, but she was being sucked out.

"Help me!" she screamed. I attempted to grab her, but she was sucked out, and the darkness came. Suffocating, deep darkness. After a few seconds, light invaded it. I opened my eyes and looked around. Where was I?


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, sorry it took so long for me to update again.**

 **AmyC352: I did debate this for a long time, but it's not in the crossover section because 1. no one ever really looks there, and 2. because the only OUAT character is Emma.**

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\Chapter five

Lena p.o.v

Kazarina spaced out for a second, then passed. She woke up a second later, and I quickly stuffed the dreamcatcher into my coat.

"Where are we?" she asked..

"Don't you remember mistress?" I asked. "We came to the town where I found the dagger in search of some answers." Kazarina shakily stood up.

"I don't," she mumbled. "What happened?" she asked. "You tripped," I explained briefly. She nodded, accepting this.

"Prepare to go back," she said. I nodded and faced her. In a second, we were teleported out. "Your team needs you at interspace in 10 minutes." Kazarina told me after receiving a communication. I nodded and headed to my room.

"That went well," Emma said calmly, once I was alone. I scowled.

"I'm never doing that or anything like that ever again," I growled. I took the dream catcher from my coat and placed it in my bedside drawer. I took a deep breath and sat down for a second before getting up. I looked over at Phosphos, who'd been so tired from all the battling, that he'd been sleeping the entire time. 'Lazy bakugan' I thought with a smile.

"Wake up Phosphos." I said. He sprang up.

"Back to interspace?" he asked. I nodded. He jumped into my pocket before I transported us to Earth using my watch. I walked into the control room, where everyone else was.

"What kept you?" Sid asked angrily. I shrugged.

"I was helping Kazarina," I explained. Sid rolled his eyes. I took a seat next to Zenet, and waited for orders, you know, whenever Ren would give them out.

"You doing okay Lena?" Zenet asked.

"I'm fine," I assured her.

"You sure?" she pressed.

"I'm fine," I said, this time with a bit of force behind the words. She held her hands up in surrender before relaxing back in her seat.

"We need to recruit more battlers," Ren spoke up. I nodded and stood up.

"Would you like some company milady?" Jesse asked.

"Sure," I responded. We walked out and into the central area. It didn't take long to pick up some kids, but they were too weak. So was the next pair, and the pair after that. Everyone either refused because of the brawlers little stunt, or were too weak to bother with. As the day went on, I grew increasingly frustrated. Then it happen. It was probably my 15th battle or so, and again, the kid was pathetic. I clenched my fists in anger. Suddenly the floor began to shake. The stands were disrupted and bumped into each other. People began to flee.

"A storm is coming fast," Jesse, ever the poetic, said. "I suggest we leave before it does. I nodded, and both of us ran to the door. It was shaking here too. People pushed and shoved, and I was suddenly knocked onto the ground. I yelped as people just ran over me. The shaking seemed to get more and more intense and I couldn't get up. Someone kicked me in the head, and I instantly felt dizzy. The intensity of the earthquake seemed to then lessen severely, making it easier to get a grip. After a second, some pulled me off the ground. I looked and saw Jesse. We ran amongst the children, to get back to the control room. The others were running in as well.

"What the hell just happened?" Sid asked Ren angrily. Ren glared at him.

"I don't know. My first thought would be that it was an instability in the environment but if that was the case, all of the children would have been immeadiately teleported out," Ren explained.

"We need to go and report this," Zenet spoke. I looked at her. A small amount of blood trickled down her head. She'd been hit by something.

"You okay Z?" I asked. She looked dizzy. Sid took notice, and caught her just before she fell over.

"Let's get back. We need her to be there when we give a report," he pointed out. We nodded and transported back. We followed Sid as he carried her.

"Just get her conscious, she can come back later," Sid spoke up. I wanted to say something about her needing to be able to answer questions, but that would take time. I figured a silent Zenet was better than no Zenet. I watched as the cleaned the wound and gave her something that woke her up. Sid picked her up, and we ran to the meeting room. Sid set Zenet down and allowed her to discretely lean on him. Ren knocked, and soon we heard Barodius tell us to enter. We all walked in, and allowed the door to close.

"Our apologies for the intrusion sire, but we have some news," Mason began.

"Well, get on with it," Gill demanded. Barodius held up a hand, silencing him. Ren continued.

"Something happened within interspace. I'm not sure what yet, but it caused a major earthquake. The quake caused serious damage to the environment, as well as making it unstable. It may now possibly be unusable. I staged the evacuation protocol before we left, so it may be nearly empty now," Ren explained.

"Do you know what caused this?" asked Airizel.

"No sir," Jesse told him. "According to Ren, it can't have been the interspace itself."

"And why not?" Stoica asked.

"If it was an instability within the interspace, certain coding is locked in so that it would've teleported the children to the access point where they came from," Ren explained.

"That clearly didn't happen," Stoica smirked, looking at my cheek.

"You try keeping your balance," I mumbled. Sid started snickering.

"Lena," Kazarina said in a warning tone.

"Sorry," I mumbled, even though I really wasn't.

"Ren, since you played a part in interspace's creation, we expect you to find the source of the problem," Barodius demanded. "And the rest of you, continue your duties," he ordered.

"Yes sire," we said, before walking out of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter six

 _"Calahan! Don't do that!" My older sister yelled to her son. My nephew, no older than four, grinned and waved. She rolled her eyes. Calahan teetered over to fourteen year old me, and whispered in my ear. I laughed, and scooped him into my lap, and proceeded to show him how to make the flower crowns I'd been weaving. I helped him make one._

 _"For mommy?" he asked._

 _"If you want to," I agreed. I picked him up, and carried him inside the cottage while he held the crown gingerly. I was wearing a few at the moment, all piled on my head. We walked inside, and saw Arsia talking to Kazarina, her close friend. I set Calahan down and watched him go to his mother._

 _"Mommy?" he asked. She whipped around. In her anger, her hand threw the crown from his hands and to the floor, where it lay, ruined. He started to cry, as he picked it up._

 _"What?" she asked. He sobbed, holding it out. She looked mad._

 _"I thought I told you to keep him away from here?" she asked me angrily._

 _"Well excuse me. He's your son. He made something for you. But you ruined it." I growled at her, as I picked up my bawling nephew. She looked beyond angry. Of course, I made it worse. "You shouldn't have fooled around if you didn't want him." I'd said it lowly, so that Calahan couldn't hear it, but the venom in the words was the same. Sensing a fight, Kazarina stood up, but it was too late. Arsia slapped me hard enough to send me to the ground. All Kazarina could do was grab Calahan before he went down with me. I collided painfully with the ground._

 _"You don't know anything!" she yelled at me. I recovered quickly and stood up. I ripped Calahan from Kazarina's arms._

 _"I'll be outside with your son!" I yelled. "Yell when it's convenient for you to be a real mother!" She stood in shock. I ignored her, and walked out with a screaming Calahan in my arms. I walked out to the back yard and climbed a tree with low lying branch. It was difficult with a child, but I managed. It wasn't the first time. The frostbitten air of the late evening worked it's magic on my cheek while I calmed Calahan down. Finally, his sobs were mere sniffles._

 _"It's okay buddy," I whispered, rocking him back and fourth. He looked me with wide eyes. I smiled, and took one of the flower crowns from my hair, and stuck it on top of his wild curls. As soon I did, he closed his eyes. He opened them slowly, and a blue light sorounded his pupil._

I awoke with a start. I sighed as I thought about my words. I knew now that my father had dosed her food at one point to get her pregnant in order to ensure a male heir. I haven't spoken to him since I learned, partially because he tried to do the same with me. But Arsia stopped me from eating it. I looked around and surmised that I somehow passed out onto the floor.

"I thought you said I couldn't sleep," I looked up at Emma. She sighed.

"Sleep comes for two reasons. One, there's an important dream, two the darkness hasn't bonded to the person, and is slowly sucking their life force dry. Which do you think it is in your case?" I shrugged.

"I did have a dream," I said. She sighed.

"About what?" she asked.

"My nephew," I answered.

"I wasn't aware you had one," she mused.

"I don't," I responded coldly, getting off the floor. Emma look at me, confusion written on her face, but a short knock on the door stopped her from asking any more questions. Kazarina entered.

"Your needed in the throne room," she said shortly. Before leaving. I pondered as to why, but heading there without an answer. I met up with the others there, and we kneeled and waited for Barodius to say something.

"The brawlers are on neathia," he began. I winced. "I cannot believe the incompetence of this team. Pathetic!" he spat. I glared at the floor. How dare he? All of a sudden, the glass in one of the lights shattered and flew. One piece lodged itself into the throne, an inch from Barodius's head. A lot of it hit Nurzack and Jesse. Both were immeadiately taken to the infrimiry.

"Dismissed," Barodius chocked. We left in a hurry.

Kazarina

Something felt off since I got back with Lena, like I was forgetting something. I put her to work in the lab, and left. I was going to check her room, because I had a feeling she was lying about not knowing anything. I went in and poked around, until I opened a drawer. It was a weird object. I believe it was known as a dream catcher. I held it up, and all of a sudden got a head rush. My memories were returned. I paled. Lena knew a lot more. More than I thought. Slowly, I put the dreamcatcher down, and shut the drawer. I'd get the answer out of her, one way or another.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter seven

Lena

I groaned as I got up from the floor once more.

"Your growing weaker," Emma stated. "If you don't accept the darkness soon…you will die."

"Let it kill me," I mumbled. "I'm never doing anything dark again."

"Who said it had to be? Every dark one has a single quest. Mine was to reunite the excaliber blade. The guy before me wanted to find his son who had slipped into another relm. Noble, if you think about it," she told me.

"Sure, except all those things have been completed. I don't have a quest, nor do I want one," I growled back. I sat on the bed in my room for a minute, until my communicator beeped. Kazarina had summoned me. Great. I got up and instantly felt a little dizzy. I ignored it, and walked to the lab.

"Mistress?" I called. She came behind and tapped me on the shoulder.

"After your failure on Earth, Barodius has decided to give each of you a chance to redeem yourself. You will be accompanying me to neathia in order to stop the brawlers from restarting the second shield. Do you understand?" she asked. I nodded.

"When do we leave?" I asked.

"Now," she replied. She walked out, and I followed behind, keeping silent. We reached the ships harbor in no time, and soon, we were on it, and on a course for neathia.

"Have you heard from my sister?" I asked Kazarina. She stopped what she was doing and turned to me.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" she pointed out. I shrugged, having my answer.

I am so dead. I lost. There was nothing I could do. Would Kazarina show mercy? Unlikely. She may not mind me, but I doubt she's above using me as a way to get out of being punished by Barodius. Could I blame her. No, not really. Barodius could be really creative. I certainly preferred Kazarina to Barodius.

"You can stop it," Emma sang.

"You suck," I told her. She shrugged. My communicator went off. It was time to face the music. I'd love to say I burst into the room bravely, but honestly, I walked pretty slowly. I entered the lab soon enough. Much too soon for my liking.

"You summoned me?" I called to Kazrina. She turned to me.

"I believe I was very clear that this was your chance. You blew it. Anything to say for yourself?" she asked.

"I'm not sure punishment is a good idea. What if it causes something to happen to the darkness I absorbed?" I tried. Kazarina smirked.

"Darkness?" she questioned. "That's what it's called now?" I paled.

"What else would you call that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking. She laughed.

"I suppose you have a point. But as far as I know, you haven't told me anything out of the ordinary being wrong with you. Anything you want to tell me? Anything that I might need to remember?" she asked. I paled. She had her memories. It was glaringly obvious. How had I not seen it before. "Anything to tell me?" she asked. Her eyes almost made me trust her, but I had to remember one thing. Those same eyes hypnotized innocent children.

"Nothing." With that answer, she swallowed and raised her hand. Lightning crackled over her palm and raced towards me. It collided with my body, and I screamed. The surge caused me to fly into the air. As I passed huge glass containers, they shattered. I landed on some glass, which pierced my skin, and clawed at my flesh like a hungry lion, leaving me with several deep cuts. Kazarina began to advance. I did what any sane person would do at this point. I ran.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

I ran back to my room, leaving a trail of blood in my wake. When I finally made it, I collapsed onto the ground. Damn it all. How did her memories return? Damn!

"Lena, you're dying," Emma said. I looked at her.

"Screw you!" I hissed.

"You need to accept the darkness! If you don't, once you die, the darkness will free itself from your body and take over another." I could tell Emma wasn't lying. She wouldn't lie about this. "Think about what you could do with the magic. You could escape! You could do a lot of things with it." I sighed. Black spots danced on my vision. I couldn't die. Emma was right. Just like that, the black began to fade. My body was healing itself. Once it finished, I stood up, and changed to my human form. I looked in the mirror. To put it simply, I looked evil. My skin had turned so pale, that it mirrored death. My clothes were black. The small amount of makeup I had on was black, contrasting with my skin. My lips were blood red, and my hair had turned black, and the front had been pulled back, allowing the rest to hang in loose curls and stay out of my face. I looked at Emma.

"Does this stuff always come with a change of clothes?" I asked. She smiled, pride dancing in her eyes.

"Every dark one has a purpose, what's yours?" I thought for a second. I stared at the mirror again, and my gaze landed on top of my head. A small crown of white flowers rested there, the one thing about me that was still innocent.

"It's simple." I smiled. Step one, get the dagger. I waved my hands and disappeared in a cloud of dark blue smoke. I reappeared in the lab. It seemed that all the glass here had shatterd, covering the floor in a layer of tiny shards. I walked through the lab, my feet crunching the glass below, until I reached the safe which held the dagger. It was locked of course. I pressed my thumb to the pad, but my access was denied. Kazarina must've erased my data from the labs clearance database. Lovely. Luckily, I had a plan B. I lit my hands on fire, and pressed them to the metal. The door melted away. I grabbed what I came for. The dagger looked just like I remembered it. Black and silver with intricate designs covering it. A red jewl rested on the hilt, and my name, Lena Isis, rested in the center of the blade. I heard glass crunching, so I quickly ducked behind a machine.

"She will eventually make her way here for the dagger." It was Kazarina.

"Why on earth would you shock her?" Gill spoke.

"I didn't think this would happen. Hell, I still don't know much about what's going on with her," Kazrina told him.

"Well, why haven't you locked her up then?" Barodius asked.

"She managed to take my memories with a dream catcher," Kazarina pointed out.

"So?" Nurzack asked. Kazarina sighed.

"Whatever has her is powerful, and by definition, so is she." The crunching stopped, letting me know that they saw the safe, or at least what was left of it.

"Like I said, power." I stepped out of the shadows.

"Right you are," I laughed. I laughed at their stunned expressions.

"What happened to you?" Airizel asked rudely. I rolled my eyes, and thrust my hand out, chocking him.

"Let's just say I accepted the darkness," I said coldly. I let Airizel go, leaving him gasping for breath.

"Where is the dagger?" Barodius asked in a demanding tone. I held it out, levitating it a few inches above my hand.

"Come get it," I smirked. Stoica leaped at me, aiming to grab both myself, and the dagger. I grabbed the hilt of the dagger with one hand, and his fist with the other

"No!" I hissed at him. I took the dagger, and slashed his cheek with it. I tossed him back to the others, and flashed out. I took myself back to the shed with the dream catchers. I grabbed one, and set it on the table. Stocia's blood rested on the dagger. I would have to wipe that off. But first, I let a single drop fall onto the dreamcatcher. I cleaned the dagger, and watched what played before. Jesse and Airizel were discussing punishing Jesse so Barodius would spare them. I glared at the dream catcher, before disappearing in a cloud of blue smoke.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

Jesse

When the smoke cleared I stood at a river, a few feet from Jesse, who had his nose in a book. I sighed, and let myself blend into the shadows.

"You suck at this whole running away thing," I told him. He jumped up, and looked around, trying to find me. I emerged from the shadows, smirking at him.

"who are you?" he asked. I smirked. I suppose I was in my human form, and I certainly didn't look the same. Nonetheless, it's fun to play games.

"You don't recognize me? I'm wounded," I said, feigning sadness.

"Did Stoica and Airizel send you?" he asked. I laughed.

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose they did. But not to capture you. Ren is the gopher." Jesse regarded me.

"Lena?" he asked. I smirked, but nodded.

"Did Kazarina do this to you?" he asked. I shook my head, then thought.

"Not intentionally at least," I told him. "This definitely wasn't something she wanted." Jesse continued to stare at me. Poor boy seemed tense.

"I thought you were done for," he finally admitted. I laughed cruelly, making Jesse shiver.

"Well, she tried. I left the lab in ruins upon my exit," I said darkly. Jesse's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What are you here for?" he asked.

"I'm here to help you of course. And in return, I want you to help me," I explained. My words set Jesse on edge. Good, he could read between the lines. I laughed internally at the thought. The wind began to act odd. My time was running out. Before Jesse could react, I stepped forward, and plunged my hand into his chest. He doubled over in shock. I grasped his heart and pulled it out of his chest.

"You see this? It's your heart. You can still live without it, don't worry. But while I have it, I can control you, and if I squeeze…well, your not an idiot."

"What do you want?" he asked.

"I need eyes on this war. You are going to continue your job, and you will report to me anything that happens," I told him. I held his heart, he had no choice but to obey.

"How do I contact you?" He asked. I pulled a dreamcatcher out from my coat.

"It's enchanted so you can talk to me through another one I have. And here," I concentrated, and gathered a ball in my hands. I shoved it into his chest. "A bit of magic to aid you."

"Ren is coming, so I must leave you," I said, then I disaapeared. I ended up back at the shed. Emma was there again.

"Now that you have accepted the darkness, it's time I leave you. You know what you want to do with the darkness," she said. I nodded.

"And Lena, find a hobby. You'll go nuts just sitting around all day." With that she was gone, and I was alone. I sighed and looked around, before teleporting to a forest, somewhere on Earth. Jesse would know where to go. I looked at the trees, and slowly began bending them to my will. Soon, I had a house. I focused and created a small box out of ice. I placed Jesse's heart in it, so I wasn't carrying it around. I smiled and laughed. I don't know why I ever refused the darkness. It felt so good!


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter ten

Callahan

Lena

"What are you doing?" Jesse asked. I turned to face him. What was he doing here? I told to only come if it was really serious.

"I'm working on something," I replied, setting the pencil and notebook down. "What do you have to report?" I asked.

"It's Mason," he began. I interrupted.

"I told you to tell me if anyone else was in danger!" I yelled angrily. A small jar behind me burst.

"He wasn't punished! I was originally going to tell you that Kazarina took him on a mission, but before I left, it became known that Mason fled the ship with Avior. He's considered MIA," he explained.

"MIA? If he fled the ship then wouldn't he be considered a traitor?" I asked, confused.

"Getting there, initially they were able to trace him, but then the sacred orb began to give off interference. When it ended, Mason and Avior were nowhere to be found. Nurzack fears they may be trapped between dimensions." I sighed. What was Mason thinking?

"Anything else?" I asked. He nodded.

"Barodius is pursuing you relentlessly. They've concluded that you're most likely not on neathia, and if you are, you're within the shield. He wants your power, and has everyone searching relentlessly for it. He just punished Kazarina because she hasn't been able to find anything despite you being her experiment." I hissed angrily.

"I am nobodies experiment!" Another jar exploded. Jessie nodded in agreement.

"Officially, you've been labled as an accident." I growled.

"You need to use better words. There's nothing accidental about this. It's the best thing that ever happened and a dictating bastard will not be taking it away!" Jesse held his hands up in surrender. I sighed. Barodius's pursuit was forseen, but Mason's disappearance sure wasn't.

"If Barodius keeps this up, I may just have to get rid of him…A king as a servant might not be a bad idea. Temporarily at least."

"May I sway you from that idea?" Jesse asked, alarm written all over his face.

"I was kidding…sort of," I reassured him. "Is there any way to find Mason?" I asked. He shook his head. I sighed.

"In that case, once my mission is complete, I will see if I can penetrate the space between dimensions," I decided.

"Why not now?" Jesse asked.

"For two reasons. Number one, he is safe there. The twelve orders can't get to him. Number two, Mason acted rashly. Some time facing the consequences of his actions will do him some good. Now…Ren and Zenet, how are they?" I asked. Jesse shrugged.

"Ren was on the same voyage Mason was, but he didn't get caught in the tow, and he managed to escape being punished. Zenet is okay too, but she is going nuts. Poor girl is terrified." I nodded. Zenet was only 15, the youngest in the army. I sometimes wondered what the hell Barodius was thinking when he picked children to be in the minor orders. That being said, He didn't seem to have a problem with killing them. Sid was dead, and Mason is MIA. I don't know his reasons for sparing Ren, but they can't be good. And I doubt Zenet would receive the same treatment.

"Bring them to me," I told Jesse. He bit his lip, but nodded. He didn't really have a choice. I had his heart after all. Jesse teleported out, using the power I had given him. I waited and finished the drawing I'd been working on. When it was done, I fixed the jars I'd broken, and returned them to their place. Now I had to wait. Jesse didn't take long. Soon, he was knocking.

"Enter!" I called. Jesse walked in, Ren and Zenet in tow.

"Gill was about to punish Zenet. He will probably summon her any minute," Jesse informed me. Figures.

"Who are you?" Ren asked. I sighed.

"Am I really that un recognizeable?" I asked Jesse. He nodded.

"Guys, it's Lena," he told them. Ren paled, and Zenet looked overjoyed.

"Hi," I said wryly.

"Lena, you look so different," Zenet said in awe. I nodded. "How?" Then her watch beeped. She paled, and looked like she was going to cry.

"Gill?" I asked. She nodded. "He certainly hasn't given us much time. Jesse, you are dismissed." Jesse nodded and left. Before they could react, I took Ren's heart. Zenet attempted to run, but a flick of my hand, and the tree roots grabbed her.

"Worry not, you'll get this back. But for now, I have a job for you. Right now, I need you to go to Gill, and tell him that you went on a trip to bakugan interspace with Zenet, on a hunch that I might be there. You did find me, but I fled, and took Zenet with me." Ren had no choice but to comply. He turned and left. When he was gone, I created a wooden box, and put his heart inside. I set it on the shelf, next to Jesse's.

"What are you going to do to me?" Zenet asked. I sighed. I really didn't want to rip her heart out too.

"Relax," I said. I flicked my hand and the roots let her go. "As far as the twelve orders are concerned, you were kidnapped by me. They won't expect you home anytime soon." Zenet nodded.

"What do you want?"

"What I don't want is to have to take your heart like the others, but that would require you to be willing to do as I ask." I said, offering her a choice. I knew what she would choose.

"What do I need to do?" she finally asked. I smiled. I was really glad. Zenet was a dear friend.

"I need you to find the Prometheus flame," I told her.

"What's that?" she asked. I sighed, and thought for a minute. In order to do this task, she'd need a lot of information. How to explain… Then I remembered a trick I recently read about. I took my necklace off, and whispered a few spells, enchanting it. When I finished, I fastened it around her neck. I watched her eyes widen for a second.

"As long as you have that necklace on, you will have the knowledge you need, as well as a few powers to aid you. The necklace will also let me know where you are and if you're in danger," I explained.

"Or if I betray you?" she asked. I nodded. She caught on pretty fast. "I'll find it. But what do you need it for exactly?" A reasonable question.

"It is the only thing that can destroy Callahan," I told her.

"Who?" she asked. I laughed.

"Not who, what." She clearly wanted more information, but knew better than to ask. After another second, she left.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry this is so short. Finals are coming up, and it's driving me nuts. On the other hand, Summer is soon, so I should be able to do more then.**

Chapter eleven

Sid is gone, Stoica is screwed, and let's not forget Kazarina

Lena

I sighed. It had been a week, and Zennet hadn't found anything. Seriously, where was that damn flame. All I knew was that it was hidden in the enchanted dimension. I took out the pencil and paper I had, and began to work on the drawing, when Jesse showed up with Ren in tow.

"Tell me you have good news," I said, glaring at them. Ren nodded, while Jesse hung his head.

"I think people are beginning to suspect me," Jesse told me. Shit. Out of anger, I ended up punching the wood, resulting in cracks, and a bloody fist.

"Define people," I growled.

"Kazarina," he said. "Everyone's been going nuts since Zenet disappeared, and Kazarina thinks you have something to do with it. Which of course, is leading her suspect that Ren and I have contact with you, or at least I do." I nodded.

"I managed to join the brawlers," Ren chimed in. I nodded. That was something at least.

"How are they doing?" I asked.

"Good, no one realizes that the emporer is going nuts because his agents are going everywhere."

"Speaking of which, Sid has run off. No one has heard from him," Jesse said. Sid? I'd forgotten about him.

"I thought he was dead," I mused. Jesse shook his head.

"Obviously not. Dead guys can't take out Stoica from behind." I laughed.

"Could've used that 360 vision his bakugan has." I thought.

"Jesse, I'm going to have to pull you from Gundalia. Go back, take what you need, and give Stoica my good wishes. And bring Kazarina with you," I told him. He nodded.

"Dissmissed, both of you," I said. They left.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Kazarina and Callahan

Lena

"Good work Jesse," I congratualated him. I'd gone to check on Zenet, who hadn't had any luck. When I came back he was standing next to a human Kazrina, who had passed out on the floor. "How did you manage?" I asked. He smirked.

"I didn't have to, Kazarina began snooping, and noticed that I teleported here often, so she came. I followed and knocked her out." I nodded.

"What are you going to do with her?" he asked. I shrugged. I didn't really need another hand, but letting her return to gundalia with her free will was definitely out. I could erase her memories again, but that didn't work out last time.

"You can go," I told Jesse. "Don't worry about gundalia. Just find Sid and Mason." He nodded and left. I turned to Kazarina. Sometimes I don't know why I cared about what happened to her. I know she kinda cared about me but why? She certainly didn't give a second thought to the others.

"Surgit," I whispered, holding my hand out in her direction. She stirred, and groaned.

"Jesse," she hissed as she sat up. She opened her eyes and finally saw me.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Nothing from you. You're here for security reasons," I responded.

"Going to erase my memory again?" she asked with a cheeky tone.

"I debated it, but no, I don't think so. There's no point anyway," I told her. She shrugged, and stood up.

"What do you want?" She asked again.

"I already answered that question," I told her, annoyed.

"That's not what I meant. Stop playing games with me Lena. No one gives this much trouble unless they have an endgame," she said. I rolled my eyes.

"First off, I don't get why you care. Second off, why should I tell you?" I asked. She sighed.

"I care because I think you're trying to pursue the exact same mission as your sister Lena, and frankly I think you'll die trying!" She yelled. I turned so fast that I would've gotten whiplash if I were still mortal.

"You said you hadn't had any contact with my sister!" I yelled at her.

"Exactly! I've heard nothing from her in 18 months, since she started the pursuit of that damn flame!" she screamed. I stopped. She couldn't possibly mean the Prometheus, but then what else was she talking about? Zenet.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked angrily.

"I think we both know the answer to that. Lena, your sister went looking first. I really don't want you to die," she said.

"I'm touched," I said sarcastically.

"You're sister was my best friend," Kazarina whispered, looking at me.

"Well don't worry, I have two things she didn't," I smirked.

"Oh really, what's that?" she asked.

"Wisdom, and immortality," I answered. "You see my sister believed that it was just the one piece of darkness. In reality, Callahan is a half light half dark power split into twenty. Each one takes a host, and the darkness feeds off of them, until they die," I explained. "My nephew wasn't the only one."

"What are you going to do, destroy it?" Kazarina asked. I shook my head.

"It happens to be the glue of the universe. Notice how every dimensional tunnel is blue? I can only destroy the dark half. The light half needs to remain with the host or things go crazy." Kazarina nodded.

"You're crazy," she hissed.

"No, I'm insane," I smirked. Before she could move, I enchanted the tree to grab her wrist.

"No offense, but I don't want you returning to Gundalia. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go. Zenet has been searching for the flame, and in light of recent news, I think she may need a hand. Good bye." With that I left.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter thirteen

Stakes

Lena

I appeared in an alley near the library Zenet had been researching in. After changing into something that would help me blend in a little better, I rounded the corner and entered. Zenet was in the back.

"Any luck?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"Only the old legends, and none of them go into detail."

"I thought so. According to Kazarina, my sister had more luck finding it, but once she went off to seek it out, she never came back," I explained.

"Would your sister have kept a journal?" Zenet asked. I knew for a fact that she would have. My sister journals about subject she decides to play with.

"Let's go." I made sure no one was looking, before I teleported the both of us to my sister's house on Neathia. The front door was open.

"Someone's here," whispered Zenet. I nodded, and quietly stepped in. I didn't see anyone. I listened, but I didn't hear anything either.

"Who's there," I called. No one responded. I turned to Zenet who shrugged. We couldn't wait forever, we have a purpose here. I walked in, and made my way to the shelf. Being the organized nut she is, my sister had everything in Alphabetical order. I looked under P until I found it. A tattered leather bound journal that had "Prometheus flame" etched on the front in blue ink.

"Look around and see if there's anything else of value," I told Zenet. She nodded and began combing through the desk.

"What about this?" she asked, holding up an object. It was a white crystal wand.

"Definitely not that! Put that down!" I yelped. She dropped it.

"Yes Zenet, put that down," a voice said.

"uh oh," Zenet mumbled. I turned to the shadows. Gill.

"Oh come on! Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked.

"No," he answered. "Barodius has us looking for you, and to make matters worse, Ren switched teams and Jesse and Kazarina have disappeared. Zenet was missing too, but clearly that isn't the case now." He leered at Zenet. I was about to teleport us out when Gill threw something at me. Squid ink. I tried to move but found that I couldn't. Gill pulled something out of his pocket and began advancing. It was a magic cuff. Dammit. I could feel the squid ink losing power, but not fast enough. I tried to struggle as he came forward. No luck.

"Lucky for me, your sister has a book on dark ones. I know exactly what you are," he smirked. All of a sudden a white light hit him square in the chest and sent him flying. He hit the wall and was out cold. Zenet held the wand.

"Is he dead?" she asked. I shrugged. Didn't really matter to me that much.

"Okay, on second thought, that wand comes." Zenet nodded. I shook of the squid ink, and grabbed the journal from Gill.

"Let's go," I said. She nodded.

Kazarina

The vines were extremely strong, and nearly impossible to get out of. But I needed to leave before Lena came back. I transformed into my gundalian form, and zapped the branches. As expected, they let go. They moved to grab me, but I teleported out before they could. I went back to the lab, and began searching through the shelves until I found what I was looking for. Three notebooks. My half of the project. I'd helped Arsia attempt to kill what took the life of her son. I regret it more than anything else in my life. I picked up the first notebook. _Enchanted forest_. The place she went to in order to locate the flame. I thought back to the conversation.

 _"You're insane!" I yelled, trying to knock some sense into her._

 _"I don't care. It killed my son. It killed many before him, and it's going to keep on killing!" she yelled back at me. I shook my head._

 _"Don't do this!" I cried. I could feel tears welling up, but I refused to let them fall._

 _"I have too Kaza, I'm sorry," she whispered. She held a journal in her hand, and she was ready to go. "You stay safe, I'll be back."_

 _"What if you don't come back?" I asked. She smiled sadly, and gently cupped my cheek._

 _"Take care of Lena for me. That little brat is all that I have left. She kissed me for a mere second, and then she lept into the portal, taking nothing but that book._

 _"I will!" I called after her._

I waited. But seconds grew into minutes, then hours, then day's, then weeks, months, years. I'd lost my other half. Forever. And I couldn't even keep the one promise I made to her. To keep Lena safe. I couldn't stop the tears this time as I looked at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. The words echoced around the room. Repeating "I'm sorry," right back at me.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter fourteen

The Enchanted forest

Lena

Zenet and I arrived back at the house, only to find some scorched branches. No Kazarina.

"Dammit!" I cursed.

"What do we do?" Zenet asked. I shrugged.

"We can't stay long. Kazarina will be back with reinforcements, and I'd rather save my energy for getting the flame." I teleported us back to the neathian cottage, and sat in a chair. After conjuring some food for Zenet and I, I began to read the journal. The first page contained basic information. I knew that already. The next page only held theories about it. The third held a sketch. It was some sort of altar. I'd never seen it before. I turned to Zenet to show her, only to find her asleep on the air. Right, she needs sleep, especially if she's going with me. I couldn't leave her here for the gundalians to find. With a wave of my hand, Zenet was in my old room. I turned to Gill. His chest rose and fell, proving that he was alive. A giant bruise was forming on his head.

"Somnum," I whispered. The spell settled over him and put him in a trance. He would not wake for quite some time. With them taken care of, I turned back to the drawing. It was labeled, but the ink had fallen prey to time, making it impossible to read. I sighed, and turned to the next page. Another sketch. It looked like an ancient book cover. This time, I understood the words at the corner. _Once upon a time_. That looked promising. I turned to the book shelf, and began a search for it. It was in perfect condition when I finally found it. Magic. How had she found it? I shrugged and opened it. The book was full of fairy tales. Lots of them. I flipped through it until I found a certain story. _Merlin, Nimueh, and the Prometheus flame._

"Thankyou Arsia!" I whispered. I quickly skimmed through the chapter, until I found mention of the flame. These two love birds were going after it. I scanned to the story until I found the altar. An exact replica to what my sister had drawn. Then it clicked. That's where the flame was. The story detailed the path they took from the village, but not where the village was. I sighed and set the book down. What were the odds that she had any maps of this Enchanted forest? I searched through her books but I found nothing of value. It didn't help that I could barely see. I sighed and stood back.

"Designandum!" I hissed. A drawer at her desk began to glow. I rushed to it, and yanked it open. In there were some glass phials, all of which were nearly empty, and a leather bound cylinder container. I grabbed the container and opened it. The papers inside were worn, and seemed to be some sort of parchment. Clearly these weren't her original design. I pulled them out and began looking through them. They were maps of the Enchanted forest. After searching through them for nearly an hour, I found a few that would lead me form the dark one vault, to Merlin's village. From there, I had the book to guide me the rest of the way. Being sure not to tear them, I put the maps I needed in the cylinder, and threw the rest on the table. I grabbed the book to, and found a backpack to put them in. Now, all I had to do was wait for Zenet.


	15. The dark one's love

Chapter fifteen

The dark one's love

Lena

Zenet slept for a few hours before I began to hear her waking up. Once I was sure she was fully awake, I used my magic to bring her back down.

"Thanks for letting me sleep," she mumbled. I nodded, and tossed her a sandwhich.

"Eat up," I said calmly. While she ate, I began to search for some magic beans the book told my about. My sister kept two in a jar. One for the way here, and one for the way back. I took them, and slipped the second one into a pouch in the bag.

"Ready?" I asked Zenet. She nodded. I thought of the dark one vault, and threw the bean down. The two of us jumped in.

We landed in the grass right next to it.

"We here?" Zenet asked.

"Yeah," I responded. I sat up and opened the backpack to retrive the container the maps were in. I grabbed them and laid them out.

"So," I began. "We are in the forest here. We need to get to Merlin's Village. However, It takes a couple maps since the two locations aren't on the same map. We need to make it to Mari, the first village on the map, then we switch to the second one, which will lead to Nedrid, which is on the same map as Merlin's village," I said. She nodded.

"Okay, how long will that take?" she asked. I thought for a second, and waved my hands. Two brown horses, complete with saddles appeared.

"About a day, maybe a little longer," I said. She nodded. I helped Zenet up, before getting onto my own horse. Thanks to the vast knowledge I'd acquired, I knew how to ride a horse. Zenet however, had no clue. I bewitched her horse to follow my own, and set off. The horses were extremely fast, but the average passerby wouldn't notice the magic involved. It took us three hours to reach Mari, where we switched maps, before continuing on our way. Nedrid only took two hours. We ended also eating some food there. Merlin's village was five hours away, even with the advanced horses. We still made it with no trouble, but Zenet looked ready to pass out. I let her sleep while I pulled out the book, and began to study the path. The trail was perilless, but Nimue's old village rested on it, and the story focused on that. I let Zenet sleep through the night, and woke her dawn hit. We gathered everything, and rode the horses down the path. Soon the altar came in sight.

"Stay here," I told Zenet. I got off my own horse, and ran to the altar. It looked just like the picture, except a small triangle resting on the stones. That was odd. My fingers brushed over it. Only a mere second passed, before it began glowing. The triangle took the shape of a woman, and the figure stepped out. I gasped. She was a bit older, and she wore a gold, medival dress, and here hair was longer, but it was her.

"Arsia," I whispered.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

The Miracle

Lena

"Lena," she said. "Go away. Don't take this. You can't. Callahan is dead. I wanted to find him to, but it's no use."

"No," I whispered. "Why should I listen to you? For the first four year of his life I was the only person who cared about him! I know the circumstances. I know that dad forced you to become pregnant. I understand that looking at him reminded you of our fathers betrayl, I get it. But you can't tell me to go away. I loved him just as much as you did." All these years, I'd been angry at her. But since she was presumed dead, it didn't feel right to be angry. I tried to gain control of my emotions, but it was so hard.

"You can't hid your emotions here. That's one of the many things about this altar that makes it so special. That's why Nimueh killed that man when she first came here."

"The man of pure darkness." I remembered him from the story.

"Or woman of darkness as the case may be," Arisa said, pointing at me. "That dagger you carry, you have no idea."

"I don't want to know!" She laughed.

"Of course you do."

"Get out of my way. I want that flame!" I yelled. She rolled her eyes.

"My job is to guard the flame." I attempted to get past her, but she grabbed my wrist. I felt her literally pull me out of my physical body and toss me through an astral tunnel. I was falling. It reminded me of the tale "Alice and Wonderland". I was falling down the rabbit hole. I landed in my body, but I felt smaller. And I was in the family living room. I stared at the mirror on the mantle. I was 9 again. Arsia was screaming and cursing my father. He stood there, no emotion on his face whatsoever. Finally, Arsia had enough, and punched him. Kazarina walked up, just like she had many years ago, when Arsia found out that our father had forced a baby on her. She looked at the scene. After a minute, she picked me up, and walked out the door, with Arsia following. I felt like I was falling again. I was 10 when I landed, and I was holding a baby. Arsia was asleep. Callahan. When I landed again, I was 14. Callahan wanted to show me magic. I watched in awe as the little boy before me spun some rocks, and lifted them in the air using only his mind.

"Woah," I mumbled. I landed again. This time, I was 15, and I was trying to wake Callahan up so we could take him to the doctor. But he wasn't budging. I stopped when I noticed something. He wasn't breathing. I screamed for my sister. We tried everything. But we ended up on the floor in tears. Crying, and holding on to a body. Callahan's body. Kazarina showed up, but we didn't want her. She stayed anyway, and helped us bury him.

I was back in the present. And I was crying. "Why did you do that?" I asked.

"Go home," was my response. I didn't budge.

"Lena catch!" Zenet. She tossed me the wand we found. I lept up, and caught it. Arsia turned to Zenet, and threw a dagger. It hit Zenet right in the chest. She fell to the ground, gone.

"No!" I yelled. Arsia turned to me. I almost got worried, then I remembered, and I smirked.

"I will win." I shot spells at her, but she dodged. I kept going until one spell became apparent in my head. Emma's voice.

"Victus!" I yelled. It landed it's mark. Arsia gasped, before disappearing in a flash. A glass pyramid was all that remained of my sister.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter seventeen

Zenet

Lena

I didn't move for a second. Everything was so messed up. I forced my feet forward, and pocketed the rock. The pyramid contained my sister. I'd free her one day. When I could look her in the eyes, knowing she killed Zenet. I turned to the altar. On it was a box. I could sense the flame from here. It's magic was powerful. I took the box, and put it under my arm. I turned to Zenet next. Or more accurately, her body. I walked up to her and checked her pulse. Nothing. I bit my lip to keep from screaming out. Tears fell, and I didn't stop them. I had never meant for Zenet to die. The crystal necklace I'd given her was glowing with magic. I picked her up, and transported us to the cottage. The flame appeared on the table. The book fell and opened to a page. On the page was a woman in a glass coffin. I stared for a second before I closed my eyes. I felt the room around me shift, and Zenet's weight faded from my arms. When I opened my eyes, Zenet laid in a glass coffin of her own. A white dress adorned her body, and my crystal still hung around her neck. I whispered several enchantments, and threw Gill's sleeping frame out. Then I took the flame and left. Zenet's body would stay this way forever. It would never decay. And no one could ever go inside. It was all I could do.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen

Lena

Once I got back to Earth, I contacted Jesse and told him to meet me at a small diner near BI. He showed up a bit later, looking a little worse for wear.

"What's up?" I asked.

"My exit of the gundalian forces was not as dramatic as yours, or as smooth as Zenet's. Therefore, their pursuit of me has been more rigorous. It doesn't help that they think I have information on you."  
"Technically their right," I pointed out. Jesse shrugged.

"Where's Zenet?" he asked. I paused for a minute and debated on how to tell him.

"We found the flame, and it was guarded. The guard is someone who I knew personally. As such I was taken off guard. Zenet however, was not. She snapped me back to reality but called attention to herself in the process. Naturally, the guard took her down. She's dead," I said. Jesse bit his lip, clearly on the verge of losing it.

"Fuck," he hissed. "Damn it all!"

"I didn't want this to happen," I whispered.

"Of course you didn't!" he said. He sat down, still fuming with anger. I let him calm down for a minute, before continuing.

"How are Sid, Mason, and Ren?" I asked. Jesse's anger was instantly replaced with sadness.

"Well, Ren is doing fine with the brawlers. I think the brawlers found Mason, but I'm not sure."

"And Sid?" I asked.

"He's dead," Jesse said quietly. "Emperor Barodius killed him and hid the body. I caught him in the act, unseen of course." I pursed my lips.

"Why?" I asked.

"I don't know," Jesse said. I remained silent.

"We need to visit Gundalia," I finally said. "Or at least, I do."

"Why?"

"Well, for one, I want to kill someone. Two, I need to give something to Kazarina, and three, the power seeks damaged adolescent souls. Gundalia has a lot of those."

"To gundalia then," Jesse said. "I'm coming. I want answers too."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

Gundalia saw it coming, but they certainly weren't prepared

Lena

The blue smoke cloud swirled, depositing Jesse and at the top of the bells. In just a few moments, they would ring to signal dawn. It would be a new day to Gundalia. The question was, just how would this alter the course of my former planet's future.

"What is the plan?" Jesse asked. I looked over the city, thinking. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a guard on patrol. Citizens of gundalia were not allowed to leave their houses until the bells rang. This guard had likely killed many who broke that law. Man partaking in thievery to feed their families. Women wanted to get the clothing in before retiring. Children who stayed out just a second too late. I felt no pity for whoever was under that mask. I hated him. I jerked my head back, hissing and barring my teeth. The magic carried over to the guard. His head snapped back with such force that his feet flew out from under him. He crashed to the ground, his armor denting just slightly. The smallest trickle of blood flowed from his armor, and to the ground.

"Pathetic," I growled. I levitated his staff over to me. Once I had it, I yanked the silver off and tossed the stick to the ground. I bent and compacted the metal into two rings. I slid my finger through one and gave the other to Jesse.

"Communication, healing, flight. It won't give you magic, but your lightning zaps will have a little boost. If you don't wish to kill them, I wouldn't zap them more than once," I said. Jesse nodded. The bells began to swing, chiming loudly.

"Let's go!" I yelled over the noise. We jumped off and glided to a ledge, which was left open and unguarded.

"Zenet was here," I realized.

"Well, then. We know we're where we should be." Jesse and I walked down the halls. Rather than hide and sneak, we walked with confidence. My dark aura would scare many soldiers off as I moved. Everyone could probably sense it. We ran into a couple guards, but a snap of my fingers knocked them out. Soon, we were at the throne room.

"Barodius is here," I announced. I could practically smell the bastard. I walked down the path, with Jesse just a step behind me. Barodius was talking to Arizel and Stoica, who knelt at his feet.

"Hello boys," I said maliciously. Everyone looked at me so fast it was amazing they didn't get whiplash.

"Lena," Barodius hissed. "Get them!" Stoica leapt at me, but I held out my hand and choked him with magic. He clawed at his neck.

"Don't touch me you filthy rat!" I yelled. I let him go, and he fell to the ground gasping for air. "I have no patience with you Barodius. Before now, you were just an annoyance. Now I have you to thank for the loss of at least one of my friends."

"You dare address me that way?" He roared.

"Yep, she does," Jesse interjected. "Though frankly, the way I see it, you can die. She can't. I'd keep to civility if I were you."

"Is that what you're doing?" Arizel taunted.

"Actually no, Lena has my heart. Literally, I don't have a pulse right now."

"How are you not dead?" Stoica asked.

"He doesn't die unless I crush it."

"I see."

"So Barodius, where's Sid?" I asked.

"Why would I tell you?"

"Because I am your worst nightmare."

"Prove it." I looked up at the ceiling. The lamp I burst so long ago, had yet to be repaired. Barodius was a man I could spend years torturing. But I needed to do what I came here for first.

"It was quite scary," I said, pointing to it. "It almost took off your head. Mark my words Barodius, a much worse fate will befall you."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter twenty

Is it kidnapping if the kid wants to come?

Lena

"Are we done here?" Jesse asked. I shook my head.

"We still need a kid remember."

"Right. So who are you thinking of?"

"Like I said, Callahan preys on lost souls. Not hard to find if you know where to look." We reached the ledge and glided down to a section of homes.

"Are you going to choose a random house or something?" Jesse asked. I shook my head. I closed my eyes and let my instincts point me in the right direction. With my sharpened senses, I soon picked the cries of two kids. My eyes snapped opened and I walked over to the house.

"Stay here," I told Jesse. I teleported myself to the room they were in. It was a boy and a girl, around 6. They were twins. The girl clutched a baby in her hands. It was dying. They all looked worse for wear. Whoever they were living with clearly had been beating them. Both looked up at me, tears running down their face. They were watching their baby sibling die right in front of them.

"It's okay," I whispered. I stepped forward and pressed my hands to the baby's head. The injuries healed right before their eyes. I healed the kids next. "Hello," I said.

"Are you gonna hit us?" The boy asked. I shook my head.

"Then what do you want?" The girl glared at me.

"I want to help you," I whispered. I wasn't lying either. I did want to get them out of here. "But I need your help first."

"For what?" They asked at the same time.

"There is an evil power in this world, and I want to destroy it. But first, I have to find it."

"Okay," The girl said. She stood up, followed by her brother. Both changed into their human forms. The girl pressed her hand to the baby, making it change as well. They all looked like angles, with pale skin, bright blue eyes, and golden blonde hair.

"My name is Emily. That's my brother, Jacob. The baby is our sister, Hannah," The girl introduced. I smiled.

"I'm Lena." I reached out, and gently took the baby. "Everything will be okay," I whispered to them all. I heard a crash from outside. Both kids stiffened and Hannah began to cry.

"I thought that thing was dead!" a voice yelled. Before anyone could enter, I flashed everyone to a field on Earth. The trees shifted to form a shelter. The kids ran in and fell asleep clutching each other. I still had the baby.

"You said one kid. I see three. And one of them is an infant," Jesse said. I shrugged.

"The more the merrier."

"How are we going to take care of a baby?" Jesse asked.

"I took of my nephew. I know what to do," I said. The air shifted. Everyone felt. I tensed.

"It's coming."


	21. AN PLEASE READ

**I know there are going to be a few people who review this to say an authors note is against the rules, but this is related to the story so SHUT UP! Or at least have the decency to use your account and not hide behind a "guest alias".**

 **On to the reason for this note. Unfortunately, it seems that my life has reached a very busy point. For those of you who don't know, I'm apart of a dual enrollment program at the local community college. Basically, that means that while I still attend high school, I get to take classes at the college. I'm taking three right now, and one of them is chemistry so my schedule is unbelievable. I have thought about this, and I think that I need to drop a story. Unfortunately, Ancient Magic is currently the story with the lowest following. But, that doesn't mean it doesn't have any followers so I will make everyone a deal.**

 **If within the next month, I see 0 reviews then the story will be deleted.**

 **If within the next month, I see 1 review, I will keep the story up and post a detailed outline.**

 **If within the next month, I see 5 reviews, the story will be put on hiatus until spring, at which point I will try to begin updating again**

 **If within the next month, I see 10 reviews, I will try to continue to update as normal.**

 **ADDITIONALLY, IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO ADOPT THIS STORY, THEN SEND ME A PM.**


	22. Chapter 22

**I've made a decision!**

 **So, my authors note that I left last month told you that in a month, I would tell you what I'm going to do.**

 **I started this story when I was very busy due to my excitement in writing it. That probably wasn't the best decision I've ever made (not my worst either). Now, I'm even busier, and I have so little time. I asked for everyone's opinion to see if people were reading the story. I said that if there were 5 reviews, I would continue in the spring. There were 3. So, I decided to do something in between. Right now I'm writing 3 fanfiction stories. When I finish one of them, I will continue writing this story. That may happen before this spring. It may happen in the Summer. I don't know for sure, but I will not be abandoing this. Just taking a break to get some other work done.**

 **Thankyou to the people who reviewed and let me know that this story is worth it.**


	23. Hey Guest

**To guest: Thank you so much for your review. It must've been very hard for you to waste your time reviewing a "pathetic writer" such as myself. I assure you I'm not holding my writing hostage, just trying to balance my life. You see, despite being only 15 years old, I go to college, and I'm taking some rather tough classes (if you can avoid taking chemistry, do it). Anyway, if I'm such a bad writer, why do you care? If I'm holding my writing "hostage" as you say, then it must have some value. Diamonds are kept hostage, not ordinary stone. And I'm not blaming anyone (except maybe my chem teacher). It's my decision, which I wanted some input on. If people want to see the story finished, they'll say so. And they did.**

 **Also, I encourage you (and my other readers) to check out my book on Amazon. I published it when I was 14, and I'm really proud of it. I'll have it linked. at the end of this note.**

 **Lastly, why don't you contact me with your real account? I'd love to read some of the stories you have put together.**

 **Book: dp/B01JMGA78W**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter twenty one

Lena

I expected to feel overpowered by the evil that had claimed so many lives. So many innocent children, all dead. I closed my eyes in an attempt to close myself off and not get overwhelmed, but I never felt anything. I opened my eyes and I felt a gentle presence. It wasn't trying to dominate. It was simply making its presence known. "I'm here." It seemed to say. Slowly, a ball of blue light formed in front of me. The same blue Callahan's eyes had been before his death. I glared at it, letting all of my hatred flow to my gaze. It jerked back.

"What's wrong Aunt Lena?" I stared in horror at the ball that had so easily mastered my nephew's voice.

"Callahan." The ball transformed and took the shape of a little.

"Do you hate me?" he timidly asked. I shook my head.

"I could never hate you!" He smiled and walked forward with his arms stretched out for a hug. I embraced him, never wanting to let him go.

"I thought you were dead," I whispered.

"I will never die," he said. I pulled away and stared at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I am forever."

"You're not Callahan," I realized. How could I be so stupid?

"Of course I am!" he insisted.

"But you're not. You may look like him but…"

"I am him. I'm all of them." He shifted into a little girl.

"Hi," she said before it switched back. "It is me your talking to Aunt Lena. It is my soul." He smiled. A single tear fell down my cheek. The power took the soul of the children. Before me was my nephew, but he was gone at the same time.

"You want to see me again, don't you Aunt Lena?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Not like this." I grabbed the box with flame and I opened it. Calahan looked absolutely terrified.

"I'm sorry!" I cried. I closed my eyes and aimed it at him. I couldn't see him, but I could hear his scream, full of pain and terror.

"I'm so sorry."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter twenty-two

Lena

"Lena!" Jesse yelled my name. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Was that Callahan?"

"It was." Jesse surprised me by running up and giving me a hug.

"How many are left?" he asked.

"Well, supposedly around 19," I answered.

"You don't sound so sure."

"Well…once the first one was destroyed I was able to sense the others in this world. But I only caught 17. I know there's one more in limbo but the other one…"

"Perhaps it isn't in this world," Jesse suggested. I nodded.

"Most likely." Our conversation was interrupted by Emily tugging on my sleeve. I turned to her. She pointed to the distance, where a figure approached. Kazarina.

"You have got to be kidding me," Jesse mumbled.

"You all look thrilled to see me," she said. She looked around and noticed the children. "So, you're kidnapping little kids now?"

"Is it really kidnapping if they come willingly?" I asked.

"Yes," she answered flatly.

"Well fine then."

"What do you want?" Jesse asked.

"To know what the hell you two are doing," she answered.

"We're stopping Callahan from killing more kids," I answered.

"It's impossible. Your sister already tried."

"And I've just succeeded. At least once." Kazarina opened her mouth in shock.

"You did what?"

"One of the powers has already been…cleansed of its darkness," Jesse said.

"How?"

"I found the flame."

"But Arsia…she never came back."

"Actually, here she is." I tossed her the prism. "If you figure out how to get her out of there then she will be able to live the rest of her life in peace."

"You aren't able to with magic?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Went I went to get the flame, Arsia was the one guarding it. I had Zenet with me. Arsia tried to fight me using sentimentality, but she couldn't do that with Zenet so…"

"She killed her," Kazarina guessed. I nodded.

"She's entombed at the old cottage. I wouldn't try fetching the body if I were you."

"Good to know," Kazarina said. "I was originally sent here to check out an energy surge. When I return I will report Zenet's death." I nodded.

"Was that energy surge caused when Lena fought Callahan?" Jesse asked.

"Most likely, why?" Kazarina asked. "Try scanning for it between Gundalia and Neathia. Lena was able to sense all the powers but one."

"I'll see what I can do."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter twenty-three

Lena

I sighed and stared at the orphanage sign. Figures the closest power would be at a place like this.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Jesse asked.

"Yes," I answered. With the box in my hand, I walked into the building. It was the middle of the night, and everyone was asleep. My instincts guided me a small room on the second floor. It was bare, except for a dresser in the corner and a bed in the center. A suitcase was on top of the dresser. The child had just arrived. I turned to the bed, and in it was a girl who couldn't be more than twelve. Calahan was tied to the child, making it connected to her. Since she was sleeping, so was it. I sensed the darkness, and I opened the box. The light half of the power wanted to protect the child. The darkness wanted to kill me. The inner war forced the power to snap in half. The child sat up and her eyes shot open. She opened her mouth to scream, but the darkness came instead. It rushed at the flame, and was instantly destroyed. The kid coughed.

"Are you the devil?" she asked. Of all the questions I expected, that wasn't one of them.

"I am not."

"Are you a witch then?"

"I guess so."

"Are you going to take me home?" shed asked

"I can't." She sighed. "That's what the lady said too."

"You will find a home," I told her. With a wave of my arms, I was back outside.

"The orphanage isn't in ruins," Jesse said. I nodded.

"Where are the kids?"

"Sleeping."

"Go keep an eye on them. I will return in the morning."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-four

Lena

Despite Emma's earlier comment on dark ones not sleeping I felt as if I could fall asleep for ages. Out of the eighteen powers that remained once I finished with the girl, I'd managed to take care of nine. But now daylight approached, meaning that the children would be waking up. It was much easier to tackle the power when they were asleep. Jesse was waiting for me when I got back.

"The other's are asleep," he said. "How long are they going to stay?"

"Don't know. Until I can find a home for them."

"How many did you take care of?"  
"Nine more. I should be able to get the rest the next night, but I need to find them."

"This seems too easy," Jesse said. I knew he was right. For all the trouble it had been to get to this point, destroying the darkness was too easy.

"I hope it stays that way. Didn't you say there was one more in limbo?"

"Yeah."

"Well, how are you going to attract that one?"

"I thought I'd figure out a way to stop it first. With The first one, it was easier because the light separated from the dark to create the form of my nephew. I doubt we're going to get lucky a second time."

"One can hope." I rolled my eyes and walked over to a corner. I focused on finding the other powers. Soon, I had a lock on seven more. I conjured a map and set it my feet. Taking my dagger, I pricked my finger and let seven drops of blood fall on the paper. I held it up and let them trail down the map, revealing the location of each child. One was still in America. One was in Brazil. Three more were in Africa. Another one was in England. The last one was in Japan.

"That's cool but morbid," Jesse said.

"Agreed." The momentary silence was interrupted by a yawn. Emily sat up an stretched.

"I'm hungry," she mumbled. I sighed. These two probably hadn't eaten in days. Come to think of it, when was the last time I ordered Jesse to eat something? Did I need to eat? Emma never mentioned that. I conjured a wallet and tossed it to Jesse.

"I think there's a café around here somewhere." He nodded and teleported out. While he was gone, I worked on creating a separate room where the kids could wash themselves off. Once they were clean, I took their old clothes and transfigured them into clean, new ones. Normally I'd just create new, but my strength needed to be saved. Jesse came just as I finished washing Hannah off.

"What did you get?" I asked as he began taking wrappers out of bags.

"A bunch of sandwiches, two hot chocolates for Jacob and Emily. A coffee for me, and one of those cappuccino things for you." I smiled and took my drink and a sandwich. I spent the rest of the day creating random pottery jars, and letting the twins carve silly designs on them. When night fell, I excused myself. The American kid was a runaway. Once I was sure the power had been cleansed, I dropped him off at a social services office. Better there than the streets. The African children were together in a village. Unlike many, It was a woman run village. I knew from reading articles that the only men here were the ones who were raised here. These kids would be fine. The kid in England was the only one I found with her parents. The kid in Japan was at a boarding school. At least his parents didn't ditch him completely. When I returned, it was very early morning, but Jesse was awake and in a corner.

"How was it?" he asked.

"Easy," I answered. Suddenly a flash of light appeared and Kazarina stood.

"You're going to wish you hadn't said that."

* * *

 **Hello readers, I have some sad news. Once I finish the three stories I have up here, I will be leaving fanfiction. There is a certain group out there (Who I'm pretty sure I don't even have to mention the name of) who get's a kick on trying to get stories booted off the site for even the slightest bending of a rule. Their reviews seem to have chased off a lot of readers and any constructive criticism that I was getting. There is no point staying on a site if I can't better my writing through it. You still be able to find me on Quotev, Wattpad, and possibly Archive of our own. Good day to all and to those who enjoyed my stories, I am sorry.**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter twenty-five

Lena

"You're going to wish you hadn't said that," Kazarina said.

"That means you found something." Jesse said.

"Yeah I did."

"Well, what is it?" I asked.

"I caught a signal. But it's on neathia."

"Didn't you say that Callahan is attracted to hardship?" Jesse asked.

"I did. Neathia is like communism done right. There isn't any poverty or anything. Though I suppose the war could bring hardship. But none of the children are directly involved in it."

"Except princess Fabia," Kazarina pointed out. "She's been pretty involved."

"She's not really a kid though. She's old enough to get married," I said.

"Her fiancé was killed which would account for the tradgedy though," Kazarina said.

"Which you are responsible for," Jesse interjected.

"Details," she said dismissively.

"Wait, she came to your lab to get arranaut after that. Did you look in her eyes?"

"Uh…Yeah I guess. Why?"

"Were they blue?" It clicked in her head.

"They weren't."

"What about the other brawlers though?" Jesse asked. "This isn't their first "save the world" rodio. Plus who knows what they've suffered." I nodded.

"I can't think of any other way."

"Guys," Kazarina said. I held my hand up to silence her.

"We need to get to neathia," Jesse said.

"That's easy."

"Guys."

"There's a shield."

"One that doesn't account for magic."

"Guys!"

"What?" I yelled. Instantly something slammed into the makeshift house and blew it up. We were all catapulted backwards through the air. It was here. I searched for the flame box. It was next to Kazarina.

"Grab that!" I yelled. This time the power wasn't interested in trying to win my favor. A half light half dark mass swirled above our heads. Sensing the dark magic I held the light moved towards me and knocked me back down as soon as I stood up. Damn that hurt. An orange flare alerted me that Kazarina opened the box. To our luck, Calahan had separated. The light wanted to go after me. The dark wanted to destroy the flame. To bad for it. Having never held the flame before she screamed when the darkness collided. Having been spilt in half, the light disappeared.

"You okay?" I asked Kazarina. She nodded.

* * *

 **Hello readers, I have some sad news. Once I finish the three stories I have up here, I will be leaving fanfiction. There is a certain group out there (Who I'm pretty sure I don't even have to mention the name of) who get's a kick on trying to get stories booted off the site for even the slightest bending of a rule. Their reviews seem to have chased off a lot of readers and any constructive criticism that I was getting. There is no point staying on a site if I can't better my writing through it. You still be able to find me on Quotev, Wattpad, and possibly Archive of our own. Good day to all and to those who enjoyed my stories, I am sorry.**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter twenty six

Lena

"We need to figure out who of the brawlers is being possessed," Jesse said.

"Something is weird. They're too old. It would've finished them off long ago," I mused.

"How do we even know?" Kazarina asked. "And before you ask, I haven't seen their eyes."

"Well then that's what we need to do."

"I can look next battle but I can't guarantee…" I held up my hand to silence Kazarina. With a wave of my other hand we appeared outside the doors of neathian palace.

"What the hell?" Jesse mumbled.

"Never do that again!" Kazarina yelled.

"How did you get past the shield?" Emily asked.

"Magic."

"Well of course," Kazarina growled. I heard footsteps. Kazarina really needed to stop yelling."

"Shurt up." I told her. I made her, Jesse and myself invisible leaving only the children.

"Okay, you guys are going to pretend to be escapees from gundalia. That way the guards will let you in and hopefully lead you to the brawlers. We will follow you?"

"Why can't you just magic us there?" Kazarina asked.

"If I try to go somewhere I can't see with anyone tagging along then they could end up in a wall, without a limb, or missing vital organs."

"Sorry I asked." The guards were rounding a corner so we shut up.

"Hey," one of them said.

"Help!" Jacob cried. They were in their human forms, making the guards buy it.

"It's okay," the second said, coming forward. "Come on." They lead the children to the doors. We quickly followed them into the palace and through many tunnels. Sure enough, they lead us right to a large balcony, where the brawlers stood.

"Hey, what's…" Jake stopped and stared at the kids.

"Oh," was all he said. His eyes were blue green-but they were more green. He wasn't it. Ren had the same gold eyes I remembered. Shun's eyes were hazel. Fabia's were green. Marucho's were blue. But they were too dark, and they weren't glowing. That left one more. Dan was sitting down and leaning against the balcony. He didn't look good. He opened his eyes and for a minute, it felt like I was staring at my nephew again. The twins saw it too.

"Dan," I said the name. They all looked around.

"Lena," Ren realized. 'I still have his heart in a box' I remembered. I lifted the spell, making the three of us.

"Thank you for leading us here," I said somewhat kindly.

"This was a trap!" Jake cried. I rolled my eyes.

"And I have Ren's heart in a box."

"You do?" Kazarina asked. I shrugged.

"What do you want?" Shun asked. Behind him, I saw Fabia check Ren for a pulse.

"Ren stays alive unless I crush his heart," I told her. "And while I have it, he's forced to follow my orders. Or at the very least he can't go against them."

"Can you give it back?" Ren asked.

"When this is over. Right now, I need to see Dan." The brawlers blocked.

"He's sick," Kazarina pointed out. "Lena knows why."

"What do you mean?" Shun asked.

"How long have his eyes been blue like that?"

"Shortly after Drago left to be with the perfect core."

"Of course…" I realized. "That's why he's still alive. He and Drago posses the solidary bond. When Drago went into the core some of the power naturally passed onto Dan. That's how he's still alive."

"What's killing him?" Marucho asked.

"A parasitic half good half evil entity," Kazarina answered. Dan stood up but immediately fell back down. I could sense the power, and it wasn't good.

"Get rid of it!" Jake demanded.

"I can't. I can't cleanly cut the darkness out. It's bonded to the perfect core energy. Cutting that will kill him."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter twenty seven

Lena

I followed behind the brawlers as they carried Dan to the infirmary.

"What do we do?" Kazarina asked. I shrugged. The brawlers set him in the bed and turned to me.

"How do we stop this?" Jake asked.

"Separating the darkness is usually how I do it."

"So do that then."

"I can't, the magical backlash would kill him."

"What?" Shun asked.

"So if you leave it, it will absorb his life force and he'll die. If you try to take it, it's bond to the perfect core will snap and kill him as a result," Kazarina said. I nodded.

"Explain please," Fabia demanded. I shrugged and conjured a dry erase board. I drew a stick figure and faced the brawlers.

"Okay, when everyone is born, they have a brain, heart, lungs, ecetera." I drew little lines to represent these things. "Along with that, everyone is born with a magical core." I drew a circle in the center of the figure. "This core holds a person's ability to do magic and possess supernatural powers. Doing good deeds will strengthen it, bad deeds will taint it. But that's a side note. Now, this core usually remains dormant throughout a persons life, four things can activate it. The first is being taught by someone who has already had their magical core activated. The second is being born to someone who has already had their core activated. The rarest thing is it being activated when your born, due to a destiny. Like a savior. The last way, which is what Dan is experiencing, is the magical core being activated by an outside power."

"The perfect core," Sun guessed. I nodded.

"And Callahan,"

"What's Callahan?" Marucho asked.

"The entity that's latched to him. It's half light and half dark. Dan isn't the only one with this problem. Normally, I can take the darkness and leave the light. But the perfect core is ambivalent. Not technically evil, but it's not pure good either. So the light and darkness have fused itself to it. If I were to cut it, it would snap like a rubber band. The result would have a backlash that would implode and crumble his heart to dust."

"Of course the core is in the heart, where else would it be?" Shun muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"We can't just let Dan die," Jake insisted.

"Your probably right," I agreed.

"Got any brilliant ideas?" Kazarina asked. I shook my head. The brawlers shifted nervously. Fabia ran her fingers through her hair. Hair.

"What do you do when you get a rubber band stuck in your hair?"

"You try and unravel your hair from it," Shun said. "And usually swear while you do it."

"Amen to that. I have an idea."

"What?"

"Unravel Callahan and move it somewhere else."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter twenty-eight

Lena

"I really don't like what your thinking." Kazarina said. I shrugged.

"You don't have to like it. It's not your choice."

"What do you mean?" Shun asked.

"Oh nothing. Lena's just going to add a substantial amount of dark magic to her own magical core and potentially kill herself in the process."

"And you would do that for Dan?" Shun asked. "I mean, he is your enemy."

"Shun!" Jake looked at him in disbelief.

"No, he's right. She should consider this," Kazarina glared at me.

"Dan will die!" Jake yelled.

"But so will Lena. I hate it too but shun is not wrong," Fabia jumped in.

"Guys, Kazarina only said potentially," I pointed out.

"Oh so you won't definitely die, just probably. Great," Shun said.

"If I die and take the darkness with me then I save the lives of whatever children are infected with this power. Not just Dan Kuso. When I consider that, it is worth the risk." I walked forward and started the spell that would unbind Callahan. Instead of breaking it in half, I began to spin the darkness like it was yarn. It was working, but that wasn't what I was worried about. I finished and looked at the others. They all stared at me in horror.

"What?" I asked.

"Umm…" Kazarina began. Something wet trailed down my neck. I turned to the mirror. Blood was seeping from my ears. And my nose.

"Oh…" I said.

Kazarina

Before Lena could say anything else Shun ran over to her and picked her up. He set her on the bed next to Dan and forced her to lay down lean her head back as far as she could.

"Someone grab something for her ears," he said. He pinched her nose shut and jammed his glove under her nose to block the bleeding. This was so not good. A doctor came back with cotton which he began to place in her ear. Suddenly, Lena yelped and released a tiny pulse of magic.

"She can't contain it," I said.

"Brilliant deduction Sherlock," a new voice said. I turned and came face to face with Arsia.

"How?" I asked.

"I happened to be trapped in a prism that requires magical activation," she anwered. She glanced at her dying sister.

"We need to take the darkness."

"The dagger I asked. She made a face.

"The dagger is half the puzzle."

"That's what contained the magic before," I said.

"Yeah, the original dark magic. It's not enough to also contain Callahan's magic."

"Then what is?" I asked.

"Do you remember our research? Since we didn't have magic like Lena, we needed a container. Then we found out about the flame so we went that route, but that's not important. When I was imprisioned to guard the flame, I learned that one of its previous uses was to forge a blade called excallibur. The blade was then broken in two. The bottom half was created to be the dark one dagger. The top half was stuck in a giant boulder for someone to pull out."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"Jesse, be a dear and go fetch the dagger, and the flame," Arsia. Jesse nodded and disappeared.

"Okay, how do we free an age old half of a sword?" Shun asked. "I know the story surrounding the blade. It's a popular tale. Doesn't Arthur pull it out?"

"Yep," Arsia said. "What we need now is someone who could be a substitute for him."

"Lucky us, we have the brawlers if they're willing to help."


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter twenty-nine

Kazarina

After reading the brawlers the story of the sword and the stone, Arsia teleported everyone to its location.

"Who's going to get it?" Ren asked.

"The sword?" Arsia asked. "Dan of course."

"Me?" Dan asked.

"You're definitely the fittest out of all the brawlers," Arsia said with a shrug. "No offense to the rest of you."

"Oh no, we agree with you," Ren said.

"So, I can do this and not get turned into dust like that one guy?" Dan asked.

"…Probably," Arsia answered. "You're not Arthur. But he's dead so…next best thing."

"Arthur turned into a corrupt bastard anyway," I added.

"True," agreed Shun.

"We're here," Arsia stopped us. The area around seemed darkened. But in the center stood a massive boulder and sure enough, I could see the hilt of a sword on top.

"That's it?" Dan asked. I nodded. "If I die, someone tell mom I love her, and someone else slap Barodius for me." He took a deep breath and walked toward the stone. He stopped just in front of it. I saw him close his eyes and grab the hilt. He didn't turn to dust. Part 1 over. Now he had to get it out. Using both hands and what seemed to be a tremendous amount of strength, he pulled it out. The brawlers all clapped and cheered.

"Let's go save Lena," Ren said.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter thirty

Kazarina

When we got back, Lena was as white as a sheet. I could see the veins running along her arm which I did not take as a good sign. Jesse showed up seconds after we did.

"Got the flame." He said.

"Well, let's make a sword." Arsia took the two halves and had Jesse hold the flame. The magic she and Jesse used was not something I understood. But Arsia successfully forged the two together.

"Now what do we do?" Dan asked.

"The power of the sword will call the darkness," Arsia answered.

"Oh really?" a new voice asked. Barodius stood in the doorway with Airzel, Gill, and Stoica behind him.

"How did you get past the shield?" Serena asked angrily.

"Your systems aren't as perfect as you think," Gill smirked. "We're here for…well it seems like a sword now."

"Shove off," Arsia growled. Lena's scream interrupted whatever he was going to say.

"We need to do this now," I pointed out.

"Let her die." Stoica walked forward and tried to grab the sword from Jesse's hand. Lena screamed again. I turned just in time to see her release a magical blast. I ducked. Others ducked. Jesse and Stoica didn't. Jesse's body shielded Stoica. Ironically, him not having his heart probably just saved his life. While Stoica may have been saved from magical energy, he was at the wrong end of the sword.

"Oops," Jesse said.

"You killed him!" Gill accused.

"That was an accident," Arsia said. She yanked the sword out of Stoica's chest and shook the blood off. She walked over and held the sword above Lena. Lena began to shake. It looked like she was having a seizure.

"Idcirco praecipio tibi ut exercitum ab hoc Tenebrae," Arsia chanted. A burst of magic was released, much less low powered then the previous. It still threw me into the wall. My head hit first and my world went black.

Lena

My throat was dry and I felt like hell. I opened my eyes and saw my sister.

"Am I dead?" I asked.

"No," she laughed. "You are very much alive. And, no longer immortal just so you know. Please don't jump off a building. You'll die."

"Love you too," I groaned. "Do I still have magic?"

"Yes and no. Your magical core can't be unactivated, you still have your magic and any skills you unlocked like magical transportation but any abilities associated with the darkness are gone."

"So no more ripping hearts out?"

"That's not associated with the darkness but I feel obligated to point out that you shouldn't do it anyway."

"I should return Jesse's."

"Yeah, you should. Ren's too." I sighed and looked around. Everyone was knocked out. Or it seemed that way. Barodius had been in the doorway and judging by the way his head was turned, the hit had been fatal.

"We might want to figure out who's going to lead Gundalia now," I pointed out. "Barodius doesn't have an heir and he never named a successor."

"Yeah. We also need to come to some sort of solution to this war and put the sword somewhere no one will ever find it."

"I can think of a few places," I said. And I could. Everyone was starting to wake up.

"Are you okay?" Fabia asked me.

"Peachy," I answered. "Oh and Barodius is dead so gundalia needs a new ruler."

"Damn," Kazarina muttered.

"No one in the twelve orders," Serena spoke up.

"What about Nurzack?" Kazarina asked.

"Where is he anyway?" I asked.

"Same place as Mason." That I could fix. I waved my hand and pulled them out. Needless to say, they were surprised.

"What's going on?" Nurzack asked.

"Gundalia needs a new ruler," I said. "So Kazarina thought of you."

"Do you accept the position?" Serena.

"I do," Nurzack said. "My lady, I do apologize for the destruction of the war. I propose a treaty."

"He is not becoming emporer!" Gill yelled. He and Airzel were the only guys left.

"Arrest them!" Serena yelled. Two guards dragged them out of the room. I noticed Kazarina discreetly slip out of Serena's line of vision.

"I'll take them back to Gundalia once I'm sure I have cells that will hold them," Nurzack said. "It's going to be a new day for our planets."

"What do we do with that sword?" Shun asked.

"Lena's told me about a place that I think would be perfect," Kazarina said. "Zenet's grave."

"Shouldn't we arrest her too?" Fabia asked. She sounded unsure.

"I…don't know. She kind of has valuable information," Ren pointed out.

"Umm, I'm right here," Kazarina said. "And just because I know about magic doesn't mean I'm willing to share. Some information should just stay where it is."  
"What if we run into another threat?" Shun asked. "You three might know how to combat it."

"That's an if."

"Alright. That's enough. Kazarina has a point. Knowledge can be dangerous. Why don't we go to Gundalia and figure this stuff out," Nurzack said.

"I have no wish to return to Gundalia," Arsia spoke up.

"I don't really want to go there either," I added.

"Where are you going to go then?" Ren asked.

"Earth," Arsia said. "We can build a life there. Do you want to come Kazarina?"

"I do," Kazarina said. "But I don't think I'm getting off the hook."

"No your not," Nurzack smiled. "I have the perfect sentence for you. Kazarina, you are here by banished from Gundalia and Neathia, effective in the next 24 hours. You may not return unless I send for you."

"Get my stuff and get out. Got it," Kazarina nodded.

"Only two more things," I said. I summoned the boy's hearts and put them back. Next, I turned to the sword and made it disappear. Now, it rested in Zenet's hands, behind wards that would kill on contact. Perfect.

"Let's go," Arsia said.

"What about us?" It was Emily. I'd almost forgotten the kids.

"You're coming too," Kazarina said. Arsia waved her hand and we disappeared from the hospital room.


End file.
